Tubular recuperator for retort coke-ovens.



G. H. HUGHES.

TUBULAR REGUPERAIOR FOR RETORT COKE OVENS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN/1,1910. 1,120,147.

RENEWED SEPT. 14 1912 Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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ATTORNEY.

WITNESSES:

C. H. HUGHES.

TUBULAR RECUPERATOR FOR RETORT GO'KE OVENS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.7,1910. RENEWED SEP'I'.14. 1912.

1,120,147, Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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1 BY 0 WW ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. HUGHES, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO SEMET-SOLVAYCOMPANY, OF SOLVAY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TUBULAR RECUPERATOR FOR RETORT COKE-OVENS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

Application filed January 7, 1910, Serial No. 536,807. Renewed September14, 1912. Serial No. 720,422.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. HUGHES, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Tubular Recuperators for Retort Coke-Ovens, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in retort coke ovens andrefers more particularly to the construction of the heat interchangersfor utilizing the waste heat of the products of combustion in heatingthe air and gas (or both air and gas) forming the combustible mixture.

It has been found that by heating the cold air or gas, or both, While intransit to the combustion chambers, the degree of combustion andtemperature is materially increased thereby conserving the fuel andreducing the interval of time required for the conversion of coal intocoke. Heretofore this preheating of the inflowing air or gas has beenaccomplished by causing the same to pass through heat interchangerscomposed of apertured bricks of suitable material laid in courses oneupon the other, or side by slde, in the path of the escaping products ofcombustion with their apertures more or less in registration with eachother but in practice it has been found to be impracticable to lay thesebricks in such manner as to produce and maintain perfect registration ofthese apertures or passages and it has been equally impossible toprevent more or less leakage through the joints of the several coursesof bricks thereby destroying in a measure the very objects which it issought to carry out and reducing the heating efiiciency of theapparatus.

The primary object of my invention is to provide the heat interchangerswith continuous air or gas tubes so as to establish more perfectcontinuity without leakage in the passage of such air or gas through theinterchanger to the combustion chambers and through the heated productsof combustion .in such manner as to heat the combustible mixture to agreater degree of temperature than is possible under the existingsystems. In other words I have sought to produce a greater conservationof fuel and at the same time to obtain a higher degree of combustion andtemperature from a given quantity of fuel.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the apparatus willbe brought out in the following description.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a longitudinal' vertical sectional view ofa retort coke oven embodying the various features of my invention,showing the heat interchanger as provided with vertical air tubes. Fig.2 is a transverse sectional view through a series of the same ovens inblock. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through two of the airconducting tubes, shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is a still furtherenlarged sectional view of the lower end of one of the tubes and itssupporting wall, showing one of the regulator 1plugs therein. Fig. 5 isan inverted plan 0 a portion of the same supporting wall and plug shownin Fig. 1 showing the retaining means for the plug. Fig. 6 is an endView of a modified form of tube elongated laterally.

These ovens are preferably built side by side in series or blocks havingsuitable retorts or coking ovens 1- into which the coal is introducedthrough inlet openings 2-, the ovens being separated and inclosed byhollow partitions or side walls formin combustion chambers 3- which aredivided horizontally by staggered horizontal partitions 4 in such manneras to cause the combustible mixture to pass back and forth in tortuouspaths from end to end of the ovens, the side walls and end walls of theovens being extended downwardly some distance below the bottom of eachoven to form a series of underlying chambers for the reception ofsuitable heat interchangers one for each oven. The fuel, such as gas, isad-. mitted to opposite ends of combustion chambers 3 in the usualmanner through suitable openings 5 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Thelower portions of the combustion chambers 3 of each oven are connectedby passages 6 to a common chamber 7 underlying the chamber 1- andseparated therefrom by a partition 8 which forms the bottom of the oven.

The chamber 7 is connected by a passage 9 to one end of a horizontalflue 10, the opposite end of which is connected by a chamber 11 to areturn flue 12 which leads to an outlet flue or chimney 13 said fluesbeing disposed one above the other in the underlying chamber beneath thecorresponding oven and constitutes a part of the heat interchanger forsaid oven as will be hereinafter more fully described.

Underneath each oven and inclosed by the downwardly extended side andend Walls thereof is an air chamber 1lha ing an inlet 15 opening to theatmosphere for supplying cold air to the chamber 14 which extends underthe lower return flue l2 and is separated therefrom by a horizontalpartition -16- and upright partition 17, forming respectively the bottomof the return flue 12 and inner end of the chamber 11. The fines 10 andl1 are substantially of the same size and are divided by a horizontalpartition 18, the upper side of the flue -10 being separated from thepassage 7 by horizontal partitions 19-' and -20 which are spaced apartone above the other to form an intervening air chamber 21- said chambers21 being disposed in a substantially horizontal position directly underthe chamber 7 and therefore directly under the corresponding oven. Theopposite endsof the air chamber 21 are connected by air passages -2Q tothe inner ends of the fuel inlets -5, portions of said passages 22 beingshown by the dotted lines. The air chambers 14 and 21- are thereforelocated respectively below and above the flues -10 and -12 and areconnected by a series of upright tubes '24, preferably of fire clay orother heat resisting material and closely fitted in vertically alinedapertures 25- in the partitions 16, 18 and 19. The air chambers,

14 and 21, are thus connected by substantially vertical, unidirectional,continuous tubes which traverse the hot gas passage,

consisting as shown of the fines 1O 12--,

and are therein surrounded by and exposed to the heating effect of thehot gases of combustion. By this means the heated air is caused to flowdirectly upward to its point of use by natural draft thus assuring asuflicient supply for the combustion of the gas and since the tubes areentirely surrounded by the hot products of combustion and are jointlessa more efficient interchange of heat isetiected than where the air andhot gases merely flow in contiguous passages and no loss is sufferedthrough leakage; Heretofore it has not beefi practicable to employ suchcontinuous air tubes in recuperators since all the forms of constructionsuggested have, in order to give suflicient heating surface, called fortubes of an impractical length or the tubes have been so located as tobe inaccessible for repairs. In the construction above described,however, the recuperator can be extended to such a distancelongitudinally as to bring its height down to a point where relativelyshort com tinuous tubes can be employed giving ample heating surface,and at the same time the tubes are easily accessible from the airchamber 14 through which they can be removed and new ones substituted incase of breakage. From the air chamber 2l the heated air passes upwardthrough pas sages 22 to the inner ends of the fuel I inlets, 5-. Thefuel is ignited at these burner inlets and the products of combustionwhich is supported by the heated air pass through the combustionchambers 3 in tortuous paths into the chamber 7- and thence through thepassage -9, flue 10, chamber 11- and return flue l2- to the chimney 13thereby impinging against and practically enveloping the air tubes insuch heated products to heat the air in transit from the chamber -14- tothe burners, as previously stated.

The ends of the tubes 2& are connected by air and gas tight joints at 25to the lower and upper partitions 1.6- and 19, while their intermediateportions pass loosely through slightly enlarged apertures 25' in theintermediate partition -18, said apertures being closed at the top bypacking rings or Washers 30 which are closely fitted upon theirrespective tubes and effectively cover the openings 25 to preventleakage of the heated products of combustion or air therethrough, theobject in enlarging the apertures -25- through which the tubes pass isto allowfor the expansion and contraction of the tubes without injurythereto.

In order that the amount of air admitted to the combustion chambers maybe regulated, each tube is provided at its lower end with a removableplug 31 having an aperture -32 therein and held in place by a movabledetent -33 adapted to be operated by hand to permit the removal of theplug and the rcinsertion of another'one having a different sized openingtherein when necessary.

The gas tight joints of the upper partiti on 19 are in the form ofannular seats for the tops of the fines while in the lower partition 16a facing plate allows for the insertion and removal of the tines intosaid perforations and-retains the same therein, while said plate is alsoprovided with perforations therethrough alining with and substantiallyof the same diameters as the internal bores of said flues.

These tubes are preferably circular in cross section but any othersuitable form may be used and in Fig. 6, I have shown a tube 34- aselongated laterally which will serve the same purpose. i It will be seenfrom the foregoing description that the main feature of my inventionlies in construction and relative location of the heat interchanger forheating a portion of the combustible mixture in transit to thecombustible chamber by establishing continuity of tlow of such portionof the mixture through the escaping heated products of combustion andproviding means for the regulation of such flow and also providing meansfor the expansion and contraction of the conducting mediums withoutliability of leakage.

What I claim is:

1. A recuperator comprising lower, intermediate and upper partitionsspaced apart and provided with vertically alining apertu estherethrough, a series of vertical oneieee I'luesextending through saidperforalions. and spanning the intervening spaces between the saidpartitions, the space between the upper and intermediate partition beingconnected at one end'to the corresponding space between the lower andintermediate partitions, the said apertures through said intermediatepartition being of greater diameters than that of the fines passingtherethrough, closely fitting washers upon said f nes, said washersbeing closely seated upon said intermediate partition and adapted forsealing said flues therein, and devices upon the ends of said lines forreducing the openings therein.

2. A heat interchanger comprising lower, intermediate, and upperpartitions spaced apart from each other and each provided with a seriesof vertically alining apertures therethrough, one-piece flues spacedapart and vertically-arranged in said apertures and extendingcontinuously across the intervening spaces between the said partitions,the apertures through said intermediate partition being of greaterdiameter than those passing therethrough, closely fitting washers uponsaid lines, the said washers closely seated upon said intermediatepartition and adapted for sealing said flues therein, in ternal annularshoulders provided in the perforations of the upper partition againstwhich the upper ends of the flues are adapted to abut, a plate upon thelower face of the lower partition abutting the lower ends of the finesand provided with perforations therethrough alining with and of the samediameter as the bores of said fines.

3. In a heat interchanger for retort coke ovens the combination of anupper air chamber, a lower air chamber, a shallow, longitudinallyextended waste gas passage located between said chambers andindependent, continuous, unidirectional air-conveying tubes extendingvertically across said passage and connecting said chambers andremovable through said lower air chamber.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 31st day ofDecember 1909.

CHARLES H. HUGHES.

\Vitnesses II. E. CHASE, A. L. HUMPHREY.

